
Book,- - ^r.75" 



MEMORIAL SERVICES 



IN HONOR OF 



GGOGRAL U. $. GRMT, 




IN 



PAWTUCKET, R. I., 



Saturday, August 8, 1885, 



X//UVK\^C 






u»-^ 






fflBffiQRrMll SERWIGBS 



PAWTUCKET, R. I.. 



ON THE DAY OF 



€jea. (S^ranf^ Surteraf , J\ug. S, dSSd), 



"Tell the boys that they probably will never look into my face 
again, nor hear my voice, but they are engraven on my heart, and I 
love them as my children." — Message of General Grant to the National 
Encampment, G. A. R., Portland, Me., June, 1SS5. 



PAWTUCKET: 

Tower Post, No. 17, G. A. R. 

1SS5. 



.67 5 







'RINTED BY COMRADE A. D. NICKERSOX, 

Office of Providence Press Co. 




Headquarters Tower Post, No. 17, G. A. R. 
Pawtucket, August 17, 1S85. 



At a regular meeting of Tower Post, No. 17, Department of Rhode 
Island, G. A. R., this evening, a committee, consisting of Comrades 
Ansel D. Nickerson, Edward P. Tobie and Welcome C. Irons, was 
authorized to print in pamphlet form the memorial exercises held on 
the day of the funeral of General Grant. 

J. Warren Seabury, 

Adjutcuit. 



In flE^mopiam. 



As soon as the news of the death of General Ulysses 
Simpson Grant was received in Pawtucket, on the morn- 
ing of Thursday, July 23, 1885, William P. Moroney, Esq., 
President of the Town Council, ordered the fire bells to be 
tolled, and the buildings of the different departments of 
the town government draped in mourning, and called a 
special meeting of the Council to be held on the evening of 
the following day, to take action in regard to the sad event. 
At this meeting the following resolutions were adopted : 



In accordance with a previous announcement, the bells of yester- 
day morn told fifty millions of anxious people that General Grant, 
one of the foremost men of the country, or even of the world, was 
dead. He was truly, in every sense of the word, a noble man. He 
had fought great fights, won great victories, and done many great 
deeds, but in none of these did he display any more heroism than in 
the last contest with the enemy which finally proved the victor. It is, 
therefore, proper and fitting that this Town Council, representing 
twenty thousand people, should recognize the event and take such 
action as may be deemed consistent at this time; — therefore 

Resolved, That the action taken by the President of the Council in 
ordering the public buildings of the town properly draped in mourning 
meets with our hearty appreciation. 

Resolved, further, That we suggest to the citizens of the town that 
they drape their residences and places of business as they may deem 
proper, to remain until the day of the funeral, yet to be appointed; 
that we recommend that all places of business be closed during the 
time occupied in the funeral ceremonies ; and that we further suggest 
that suitable public services be held on the day of the funeral, in com- 
memoration of his grreat services to the country. 



IN MEMORIAM. 



Acting under the suggestion contained in the last clause 
of these resolutions, Tower Post, No. 17, Grand Army 
of the Republic, at their next meeting, held on Monday 
evening, July twenty-seventh, appointed Comrades James 
M. Davis, Alonzo E. Pierce, Edward P. Tobie, William H. 
Tracy, John R. Trafton, Ansel D. Nickerson, Pardon E. 
Tillinghast, Percival D. Warburton, J. Warren Seabury, 
George A. Mason and Hiram S. Johnson a committee to 
make preparations for suitable memorial services, to be 
held on the day of General Grant's funeral. This com- 
mittee met on the same evening and attended to vari- 
ous preliminary matters, and adjourned until Wednesday 
evening. 

On Tuesday evening another special meeting of the 
Town Council was held, at which Mr. President Moroney, 
Councilmen John F. Abbott, Isaac Gill, Adolph J. Otto, 
Fred. A. Patt, Thomas W. Robinson and William H. Salis- 
bury, His Honor Lieutenant Governor Lucius B. Darling, 
and Town Solicitor Hugh J. Carroll were appointed a com- 
mittee to act in concert with the Grand Army committee 
in preparing for memorial services. 

Wednesday evening the two committees met together, 
were consolidated, and organized by the choice of James 
M. Davis, Chairman, and Percival D. Warburton, Secre- 
tary. Sub-committees were appointed as follows : 

On Hall and Hall Drapery — Alonzo E. Pierce, George 
A. Mason, J. Warren Seabury and Fred. A. Patt. 

On Speakers — Ansel D. Nickerson, Pardon E. Tilling- 
hast, Hiram S. Johnson and William P. Moroney. 

On Music — William H. Tracy, John R. Trafton and 
John F. Abbott. 

On Programme — The committees on speakers and music. 

On Drum Baud and Salute — James M. Davis. 

Ou Tolling Bells — Edward P. Tobie. 



GENERAL GRANT. 



7 



Various matters were considered, the general order of ex- 
ercises indicated, and the subject was left in the hands of the 
several sub-committees. It was decided to hold the exercises 
at two o'clock on the afternoon of August eighth, the day of 
the funeral, and also to have salutes fired morning and even- 
ing, and to have the bells tolled from half-past one until two 
o'clock, or during the march of the Post, the committee and 
guests from Grand Army hall to the place of the services. 

The committee on hall and hall drapery accepted the 
kind offer of the Skating Academy, made by Colonel A. L. 
Richardson, in which to hold the services, and proceeded 
to properly drape it. At the rear of the academy a plat- 
form was erected, 50 x 14 feet in size, for the speakers, the 
committee and the invited guests. The background of the 
platform was American flags, draped, while the front was 
dead black. On each front corner were a pine and a palm 
tree together, emblematical of the two sections of the 
country. On the platform were the G. A. R. altar, draped, 
with a representation of a mortar, draped, on each side ; 
a floral tribute from Tower Post, G. A. R., consisting of a 
wreath of laurel and a cross of myrtle, resting against each 
other and surmounted by a crown of roses — the three 
burial emblems of the G. A. R. ritual — the whole resting 
on a base, the front of which was in semblance of the 
shoulder strap of General Grant, — four white stars on a 
purple background, with a yellow border ; the tributes of 
Tower Relief Corps, consisting of a floral Maltese cross, 
the form of the badge of the order, with "W. R. C." in 
purple immortelles on the base, and a large and very hand- 
some pyramid of wild flowers ; an elegant floral harp, 
mainly of roses, resting on a base, on which were " U. S. G." 
in purple immortelles, the contribution of J. Hogan, florist, 
and wreaths and bouquets, the tributes of various persons, 
while many growing plants flanked the emblematic pine 
and palm ; and floral pieces, flowers and growing plants, 



IN ME MORI AM. 



and the furniture of the platform were all draped or veiled 
in black. 

The gallery front, over the platform, contained the in- 
scription, in black letters on a white tablet, set in a black 
background, " Our Nation's Hero Dead — A Nation Mourns 
for Him." At the centre of this tablet was a large United 
States shield, draped, with a picture of General Grant, sur- 
rounded by a wreath of oak leaves in the centre, the whole 
being veiled in black. Above the shield stood an American 
eagle with outspread wings, holding in its beak a wreath of 
laurel, while on each side of the eagle was a United States 
flag, draped. 

The pillars along each side the skating surface were 
shrouded in dead black from the bottom nearly to the top, 
with a white and black rosette on each pillar at the top of 
the drapery, while heavy festoons of black hung between 
the rosettes along each side the entire length. On every 
other pillar was a fancy shield bearing the name of some 
one of the great engagements fought by General Grant, 
from Fort Donelson to Appomattox. 

The front of the front gallery was heavily festooned with 
black, looped up with white and black rosettes. 

The four groups of Chinese lanterns and flags hanging 
over the centre of the floor were completely encased in 
black veiling, while from the top of each, on each side, ran 
festoons diagonally to the tie beams, and then straight to 
the rosettes on the pillars. 

On the front of the building, outside, was placed, near the 
top, a large United States shield draped, with below it a 
large fac-simile of the General's shoulder strap — four 
stars — with festoons from the shield to the shoulder strap, 
and from the latter to the tops of the lower windows. 

Seats were placed upon the skating surface, which, with 
the seats already in the academy, brought the seating 
capacity up to three thousand people. 



GENERAL GRANT. 



The services commenced at six o'clock on the morning of 
Saturday, August eighth (the funeral day), by a salute of thir- 
teen guns, fired by a detachment of Tower Post, under com- 
mand of Comrade James N. Earle. Numberless flags were 
displayed at half-mast, as had been done since the morning 
of General Grant's death, and very many of the places of 
business and residences were draped in mourning, a num- 
ber of them showing much taste and skill in arrangement. 
By noon most of the stores and places of business were 
closed in recognition of the services. 

Tower Post, Commander James M. Davis, in uniform and 
wearing the badge of mourning, assembled at Grand Army 
hall at one o'clock, preparatory to forming the line to march 
to the academy. And there were gathered there also the 
members of the Town Council (all of whom were of the 
committee of arrangements), large numbers of other town 
officials, members of the General Assembly, members of the 
Business Men's Association, Ballon Post, No. 3, G. A. R., 
of Central Falls, representatives of other Posts, G. A. R., 
soldiers and sailors not members of the G. A. R., and other 
invited guests. At half-past one o'clock the line was 
formed in the following order : 

Platoon of Police, Officer Scott. 

Pawtucket Fife and Drum Corps, B. Sexton, Leader ; 

A. F. Davis, Drum Major — 7 pieces. 

Tower Post, No. 17, G. A. R., Commander James M. Davis, 

and Soldiers and Sailors— 127 Comrades. 

Ballou Post, No. 3, G. A. R., of Central Falls, Senior Vice 

Commander James H. Brennan — 25 Comrades. 

Clergy. 

Town Council. 

Other Town Officials. 

Members of the General Assembly. 

Business Men's Association, F. C. Savles, President. 



IO 



IN MEMORIAM. 



With muffled drums and amid the solemn tolling of the 
fire and church bells, the line wended its way to the 
academy. 

At the academy the citizens of the town had gathered 
until nearly all the seats were filled, and very many were 
standing. It was estimated that there were at least three 
thousand people there during the services. The ladies of 
Tower Relief Corps were present and were seated in the 
front seats on the right of the academy, while the comrades 
of the Post were seated on the left, and the guests took 
seats on the platform. Among those upon the platform 
were His Honor Lieutenant Governor Darling, ex-Gov- 
ernor Alfred H. Littlefield, General Olney Arnold, nearly 
all the clergy of the town, the Town Council and other 
town officials, a number of the Business Men's Associa- 
tion, Eugene A. Cory, Commander of the Department 
of Rhode Island, G. A. R., Charles C. Gray, Past De- 
partment Commander, and others. 

His Honor Judge P. E. Tillinghast presided. The ser- 
vices commenced with the singing of "America" by a 
double quartette, composed of Messrs. John A. Jerauld, John 
R. Trafton, William H. Tracy, Charles O. Read, Fred. 
Bogle, Louis J. Clarner and David J. White, Mrs. John 
R. Trafton presiding at the organ, and the audience join- 
ing in the hymn. 

Rev. George^ Bullen, D. D., of the First Baptist church, 
offered prayer, the quartette responding with " Thy Will 
Be Done." 



"i< 



GENERAL GRANT. \ \ 



ADDRESS BY JUDGE TILLINGHAST. 

His Honor Judge Tillinghast addressed the assembly 
as follows : 

Comrades and Fellow-citizens : — The foremost man 
in all our land has paid the debt of nature, and sleeps with 
his fathers. General Ulysses S. Grant, the invincible sol- 
dier, the magnanimous conqueror, the illustrious patriot, 
and at the same time the plain, unassuming citizen, is 
dead ; and a great nation sits in mourning around his bier 
to-day, and recounts, with patriotic pride and admiration, 
his manly virtues and his heroic deeds. A common sor- 
row and a common sympathy, mingled with a desire to do 
all possible honor to the memory of the illustrious dead, 
bring us together on this solemn and deeply impressive 
occasion. A sense of personal as well as of national loss 
pervades all hearts ; for we each feel that whatever touches 
and concerns the national welfare, touches and concerns 
also the individual welfare of every citizen. The friend of 
our country is also our individual friend ; and the enemy 
of our country is also the personal enemy of each one of us. 

The life of General Grant naturally divides itself into 
three important periods, namely : the formative or prepar- 
atory period, the military period, and the political period. 
Of the first it is worthy of special mention that he was sur- 
rounded and moulded by those rugged influences which 
strongly tend to foster and develop individuality, firmness 
of purpose, self-reliance, indomitable will, and those other 
marked traits of character which so largely contributed to 
his subsequent success and greatness. He was not cradled 
in the enervating lap of affluence and luxury, but in the 
lowly one of honest and honorable toil. Like Lincoln and 
Garfield, he was pre-eminently the architect of his own 



12 IN MEMORIAM. 



exalted fortune. Like them, too, he contended with the 
seemingly untoward environments of his early life, and 
compelled them to minister to his permanent good. 

His military training at West Point also constituted an 
important part of the preparatory period of his life. It 
was here that his native gifts were cultivated and devel- 
oped ; his mind schooled to habits of closest application 
and mathematical precision, and all his powers, whether 
physical or mental, made subject to the easy and ready 
control of his iron will. That the severe discipline which 
he there experienced contributed in a very large degree to 
his subsequent unparalleled achievements as a soldier, 
none will deny. That success would have been impossible 
without it, none will question. The requisite qualities of 
character, coupled with and supplemented by the requisite 
training and discipline, furnished the man whose name 
and fame are now immortal. Though reared in the humble 
walks of private life, yet he gradually rose to honor and dis- 
tinction until he finally stood without a peer in all his 
native land. True, indeed, it is, that 

" Honor and shame from no condition rise; 
Act well jour part, there all the honor lies." • 

The second or military period in the life of General 
Grant was by far the most important of the three named, 
for it was during this period that his truly wonderful abil- 
ities manifested themselves, and his great life-work was 
accomplished. The outbreak of the war of the rebellion 
found him in the quiet pursuits of ordinary life, and fur- 
nished the supreme opportunity for the development of his 
great military capacity. His services in the war with 
Mexico had already shown the kind of mettle of which lie 
was made, and given promise of larger usefulness in the 
future, lie at once offered his services to the govern- 
ment, which being promptly accepted, he was assigned to 



GENERAL GRANT. 1 3 



duty ; and from that time forward to the close of the war 
his course was steadily onward and upward, reaching at 
last the proud eminence of a great and magnanimous con- 
queror, and receiving the plaudits of admiring millions of 
his fellow-men. 

Until General Grant came prominently to the front in 
the West, as a skillful and successful commander, the peo- 
ple of the North seemed to be doomed to disappointment 
and chagrin ; and many were losing heart as to the final 
outcome of the terrible struggle. The first great battle of 
the war had resulted disastrously to the national arms ; the 
brave and promising General Lyon had lost his life in win- 
ning a costly but barren victory, if, indeed, it could be 
called a victory, at Wilson's Creek ; General Fremont was 
meeting with very indifferent success in Missouri, and had 
incurred the displeasure of the administration by his at- 
tempted emancipation of the slaves of all such as were 
proven to be the active enemies of the government ; a 
"masterly inactivity" was displayed by the commander of 
the great Army of the Potomac, and a general feeling of 
anxious solicitude on the part of Unionists was beginning 
to manifest itself. A great leader was what they longed 
for and fervently prayed for ; one who could command the 
entire confidence of the people by proving himself the 
supreme master of the great situation. "Give us a 
Joshua," they said, "to lead us to victory." 

In the midst of this our "winter of discontent" and 
uncertainty, there came the joyful tidings from the West 
that a withering blow to rebellion and treason had been 
given in the capture of Fort Donelson, and that a leader 
of great capacity and marvellous force had at last appeared. 
General Grant was that leader. And from that time on- 
ward to the close of the war his was really the master 
mind, although he did not assume the entire command of 
the army until early in 1864, and his the comprehensive 



* 



i4 



IN MEMORIAM. 



plan in the great work of the preservation of the Union. 
A feeling not only of great relief, but of intense joy also, 
was immediately apparent in all loyal hearts upon the 
announcement of the doubly good news. The sledge- 
hammer blows which this now rapidly rising commander 
and his splendid army subsequently inflicted upon the 
enemy at the terrible battle of Shiloh, and at the dogged 
siege of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, placed him in the 
fore-front of all others, and gave indubitable proof of his 
pre-eminent military ability. The great emergency of the 
hour had been met, and the life and perpetuity of the 
nation were secure. Gradually but surely the great field 
of operations was being contracted, and the strength of 
the enemy palsied. Gradually but surely our noble army 
moved forward under its great captain, to final and com- 
plete victory. But I need not further particularize ; for 
the military career of General Grant from the time of his 
seizure of Paducah, in Kentucky, on the sixth of Septem- 
ber, 1 86 1, to the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox 
Court House, in Virginia, on the ninth of April, 1865, is 
matter of familiar history, known and read of all men. 

Of the many admirable qualities of character which 
General Grant possessed, his dispassionateness, self-reli- 
ance and persistency were the most noticeable. That he 
was constantly in perfect command of all his mental and 
moral resources, those who knew him most intimately and 
under the most trying circumstances bear uniform testi- 
mony. The instances are numerous in which he mani- 
fested the utmost coolness in the face of gravest dangers. 
General Porter recently mentioned the following personal 
one : After the terrible second day's fight in the Wilder- 
ness, General Grant ordered him to throw all the wagon 
trains in line of battle on the right, whereupon an officer 
standing by said to the great commander: " If we're de- 
feated here, the trains will all be captured." General 



GENERAL GRANT. 1 5 

Grant responded, with compressed lips : "When this army 
is defeated it will be when I have so few men left that they 
won't want any trains." When a panic-stricken officer on 
the field at Belmont said to him : " General, we are sur- 
rounded," he quietly replied : "Then we will cut our way 
out." 

General Grant had an abiding confidence in his own 
judgment. He knew that he could safely trust and follow 
his own deliberate convictions. And while he was by no 
means egotistical, or inconsiderate of the opinions of others, 
yet he generally made and followed his own plans. 

His persistency was proverbial. Whatever he attempted 
he persevered in with obstinate tenacity, and knew no such 
thing as failure. The first day of the battle of Spottsyl- 
vania Court House was one of awful strife and slaughter. 
Continuous fighting had been going on for five days pre- 
vious, with seemingly very uncertain results, and many 
brave hearts trembled for fear of what might be on the 
morrow, when the terrible struggle was to be renewed. 
But the iron nerve of the great commander was undis- 
turbed, and he penned to the Secretary of War the immor- 
tal message, so characteristic of the man : "/ propose to 
fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." He fol- 
lowed up and promptly secured the fruits of his victories, 
without waiting, as was too much the custom with certain 
doubting generals, to see whether the enemy might not 
return ere long with reinforcements and renew the con- 
test on the same field. His policy was to "hammer con- 
tinuously" at Lee's army until it was broken into frag- 
ments and utterly routed. 

General Grant's unswerving loyalty to the government 
was a part of his very being. He had no thought, or 
aspiration, or purpose, that was not wholly devoted to his 
country's good. He fought, not like Hannibal, from 
hatred of his enemy and an overweening desire for con- 



* 



1 6 IN ME MORI AM. 



quest ; nor yet like Napoleon, for fame and glory and per- 
sonal aggrandizement, but only for the peace and welfare 
of his fellow-men, and the preservation of the sacred insti- 
tutions of our fathers. With these objects secured, he 
was only too glad to renounce his high authority and re- 
turn to the private walks of peaceful life. 

Of his magnanimity it can safely be said that it is with- 
out a parallel in all the annals of history. No other con- 
queror ever treated his captives with such consideration 
and kindness. And it is doubtless largely due to his noble 
generosity that there exists to-day on the part of those 
against whom he fought substantially the same regard for 
his memory as finds expression among those who followed 
him to victory. A reunited and prosperous and happy 
nation, without regard to former differences, gathers 
around his open grave as one great family, all actuated by 
a common impulse, and filled with a common sorrow. His 
memory is the proud heritage of no section or party, but 
of our whole country. 

I would not speak extravagantly of the part taken by 
General Grant in our great struggle for national existence. 
I would not for one moment forget or undervalue by any 
comparison the part also taken by that mighty host of 
patriots, living and dead, who made the great achieve- 
ments of our hero possible. While he was the architect, 
they were the builders. 

Of the third, or political period in the life of General 
Grant, the time allotted me will permit only the briefest 
mention. It covers eight years of our national history, 
and was filled with events which required the greatest 
sagacity, the highest wisdom and the broadest statesman- 
ship. How fully he met these exalted requirements, im- 
partial history will yet relate. That he maintained the 
dignity of the government at home and abroad, and vindi- 
cated the national integrity in a marked degree by insist- 



GENERAL GRANT. 



17 



ing that our obligations incurred during the war should be 
fulfilled both as to the spirit and letter thereof, none will 
attempt to gainsay. Strictly honest himself, he insisted 
that the government of which he was the head should be 
honest also. His policy toward the States then lately in 
rebellion was merciful and conciliatory, but at the same 
time firm and well defined. He was anxious that the local 
governments should promptly resume their legitimate 
functions, but vigorously insisted that peace and good 
order should be maintained and private rights protected 
meanwhile. Some of his appointments to positions of 
trust and responsibility subsequently proved to be exceed- 
ingly unwise and injudicious, and were the occasion for 
much criticism and scandal, but these mistakes of his arose 
from his judging of the integrity of others by his own 
pure standard. He was slow to believe that his friends 
were untrue. On the whole, there is much to admire, and 
little to deplore, in his twice four years of service as the 
Chief Magistrate of this great Republic. 

Finally, the brave soldier and the illustrious citizen now 
rests from all his labors, and his works do follow him. 
He has fought the good fight ; he has kept the faith ; he 
has finished his course, and there is laid up for him a 
crown of righteousness, which the Prince of Peace, under 
whom he served, will richly bestow. Immortal patriot, 
hail, and farewell ! 



IN MEMORIAM. 



ADDRESS BY REV. W. P. TUCKER. 

Rev. W. P. Tucker, of Trinity church, then delivered 
an address as follows : 

It is a day which will be written in large letters upon the 
calendar of history, in which not one nation only, but the 
whole civilized world stands with bowed and uncovered 
head to cast into an open grave its chaplet of respect and 
honor. It will be a day to live not only in your memory 
and mine, but in the annals of this nation for all time — 
the day on which, throughout this land, the eyes which 
have filled with tears for General Grant cannot be counted 
for their multitude. No man has lived, and, we may safely 
say, no man will live, whose burial will be attended by the 
pageantry of such a universal, heartfelt and reverential 
sorrow. And in the crowded processions and assemblies 
who to-day with sorrowing hearts will engage in these me- 
morial rites, there are included all ranks and all classes, 
all ages and all degrees of men. Each has an equal claim, 
and each an equal place. All share a common loss ; but 
each individual heart brings its personal tribute of affec- 
tion to swell the vast volume of chant and eulogy — of 
praise and lamentation, which, like a huge tidal wave, rolls 
with the westward sun across the sorrowing face of this 
bereaved land. 

Beholding the universal hush of labor and the innumer- 
able tokens of grief, it has the appearance rather as if some 
sore affliction had entered every household. And so, in- 
deed, it is. The life the nation deplores had bound itself 
by the strongest personal ties to every sensitive and lov- 
ing heart the wide land over. As by his unexampled pub- 
lic career he had raised himself out of obscurity to a peer- 
age with the noblest, so by the rare exhibition of the 



*- 



GENERAL GRANT. 



19 



sweet amenities of domestic life he had shown himself a 
brother with the humblest. There is no one so high in 
the world's estimate of greatness that he may not feel 
himself honored in doing homage to the transcendent 
worth of the patriot, the statesman and the soldier; there 
is no one so mean of birth or station that he may not 
claim his right, and "have his claim allowed," to moisten 
with a tear the bier of one who counted it his proudest 
honor to be called a true American and a constant friend. 

As one sails up the beautiful bay of San Francisco, 
thirty miles away upon the right hand there rises out of 
the vast plains of California, to the height of nearly four 
thousand feet, one noble mountain whose peak commands 
one of the grandest views on the earth. To the dweller 
near this mountain it appears only a shapeless, precipitous 
and jagged mass of volcanic rock, tossed and torn by ter- 
rific fires, and seamed and scarred by the storms of ages. 
As we journey away from it in any direction, its grand 
mass seems to grow greater, as it looms up in its magnifi- 
cence in that clear, golden atmosphere, the crags and 
seams and yawning abysses disappearing ; and it stands at 
sunset — as I have often watched it — clad in glory, a robe 
of blue and purple mantling its base and middle height, a 
crown of glory resting on its majestic head; and as the 
evening shadows gather, line by line it disappears, melt- 
ing away at last into the infinite dome of the starry sky. 

Men have their symbols and counterparts in nature. 
And as I have recalled the mountain, and now endeavor 
to catch up in a single glance some picture of General 
Grant's career and character, there seemed to me some- 
thing — much — very much — of likeness in each to the 
other. They are marked by the same impressiveness upon 
the inner sight. There is the same isolation — standing 
together with others, and yet apart — the same supremacy 
of height (for viewed from the summit of the mountain, the 



20 IN MEMO R I AM. 



lesser hills are rolled clown to the level of the plain) ; 
through all the storms and changes of the ages how calm 
and patient and firm the grand old mountain has stood ! 
And yet not more calm and patient and firm than stood 
the man through all the trials, temptations and successes 
of his eventful life ! 

On near approach, as I have said, the mountain loses its 
symmetry and smoothness of outline — great gaps and 
rugged rocks appear ; so with the man. Grant had his 
defects, his faults and weaknesses — "to err is human" — 
which those who come nearest to him plainly see ; and 
remaining near, perhaps see only these ; and yet, as we 
recede either in distance or in time from the mountain or 
the man, the faults are forgotten and disappear, and the 
mountain, grand and consummate in outline, is clad in 
crimson and gold by the haze and the sunlight ; and the 
man, in his uniqueness of life, — in his heroic height, in his 
broad simplicity of character, and in his unshaken faith in 
God and man, — stands out to challenge the unrivalled admi- 
ration of the world. 

Such, I think, is no exaggerated estimate of the posi- 
tion which General Grant will hold, and hold deservedly, 
among the world's greatest ones. I fully believe that as 
time goes on, the unique character and the moral stature of 
the man will more and more appear. Like the mountain, 
as we recede from it, the outline will stand out more boldly 
against the sky ; and when the mere landscape of the 
present life shall have passed away, and the shadows 
deepen through the haze of time, a golden halo, as of the 
sunset, which gathers upon the world's true heroes and 
martyrs, will descend upon his head, and nearer to the 
stars will appear both the mountain and the man. As 
Prince Hamlet said of his most noble father: 

" He was a man, take him for all in all, 
I shall not look upon his like again." 

►P ' — — — — ' — >i< 



GENERAL GRANT. 



The time apportioned to each address in these services 
will not permit me to run over with you even the briefest 
sketch of General Grant's life. No attempt could be more 
needless or more superfluous. You can tell it to me as 
well, or better, many of you, than I can tell it to you. It 
does not lie within my ability and scope to do it justice. 

Neither would I attempt with you any critical analysis 
of General Grant's character. Such characters as Grant's 
do not yield readily to analysis ; any more than one of his 
military exploits will submit to be judged by the accepted 
scientific rules of modern strategy. Whatever his plans 
had, or whatever they lacked, there stood behind them, 
in the man himself, the very incarnation of the military 
spirit, and the result was victory — quick, thorough and 
lasting — every time, for he never lost a battle! Upon 
the field of Shiloh, when, if ever, the enemy stole a march 
on him, his attention was drawn at nightfall to the fact that 
the foe held the position occupied by our troops in the 
morning, and he was asked what was to be done about it. 
"Attack them, of course," was his reply, adding, "and 
won't they be surprised !" 

So you may take this marvellous character of General 
Grant's, and you may stretch it upon your dissecting 
table, and you may talk of his bravery, his collectedness of 
mind, his persistency, his unconquerableness, his simplicity, 
his modesty, his magnanimity, his integrity, and you are 
just as far from defining exactly in what his greatness con- 
sists, as you were when you began. There is a subtle 
something which has escaped you, just as the life deserts 
the body when it is thus cut to pieces ; and that something 
which has outreached your scrutiny, is the real character- 
istic, the essence, which made the man what he was, and 
which enabled him to display all these qualities in such a 
remarkable degree. 

But I did not propose, as I said, to travel with you over 



11 jjsf MEMORIAM. 



the vast field of this unique life, or to uncover the secret 
springs of its massive grandeur. 

" I come to bury Csesar, not to praise him." 

Surely no man who ever lived held praise more cheap, 
and no man who ever died needs less the praise of men. 
It will ever stand, I may say in passing, as one of the 
amazing traits of his superb life, that by no act or word is 
he convicted of the weakness of drawing praise to himself, 
even when he saw the praise that justly should have come 
to him, pass him by and rest upon another. 

I felt I should meet appropriately the demands of this 
occasion, when I had thus simply stated my own estimate 
of the unchallenged place the man whose body is now 
being committed to its grave is destined to hold among 
the men of his own time and of all time, if I should follow 
out with you a single thought which, it seems to me, fully 
justifies this exalted estimate. 

" Greatness is thrust upon some men unawares," — "cir- 
cumstances make the man," — are familiar remarks, and 
are partially very true remarks ; and yet it is the other 
half to say, that it depends chiefly upon the man himself, 
after all, what circumstances make of him. The test of 
true greatness lies just here, — whether, as between the man 
and the circumstances, it is the circumstances that shape 
the man, or the man who so controls and checks the cir- 
cumstances as to compel them to do for him the required 
service. 

Keeping now in thought this plain touchstone of all 
true fame, let me scan with you a few well-remembered 
scenes which happened almost together, near the close of 
that extraordinary military career ; and if they impress you 
with a fraction of the power they have always had over my 
own mind, I know you will concede that they display a 
degree of moral nerve and moral tenderness by the side of 



3* 



GENERAL GRANT. 



which the moral equipment of a regiment of the world's 
ordinary heroes dwarfs and shrinks into insignificance. 

It is toward the very close of the last campaign of the 
conflict. Two finer armies never confronted each other 
on the field of battle. There were veterans on both sides, 
and they grappled in the death-struggle. " On this line if 
it takes all summer," is the watchword. Ever shifting his 
position, but never falling back, the northern general 
pressed on, and on ! and on ! ! at that frightful cost of life, 
till he had fixed his grasp close to the heart of the Con- 
federacy. The brave men of Sherman were gathering 
their well-won laurels. Sheridan was covering himself 
with glory in the Shenandoah Valley. The people had 
grown impatient with the old hero's slowness. He deigned 
not to tell you and me, what we know now, that all these 
victories were but a part of his own original plan. The 
newspapers throughout the North assailed him without 
stint, some of them not mincing to stigmatize him as "the 
great butcher." He answered not a word. Things went 
on. At last the President, who (it is now no secret) was 
more than once the only member of the government who 
retained confidence in Grant, even the President, in de- 
spair, went down to his tent before Petersburg to unburden 
his own perplexity and to adjure that sphinx-like man to 
break his awful silence and to give a reason for his delay. 
His reply (which I have almost from his own lips, and 
which I have never seen in print) was this: "President 
Lincoln, I am fighting General Lee," (he did not under- 
rate an enemy,) "and I have made up my mind that this 
war is man for man under the ground, and I have the most 
men; and I have taken the responsibility." "God help 
you ! Keep it ! " responded the President after a long 
silence. But, my friends, what responsibility ? The awful 
responsibility, for which he has gone to give an account to 
God, of sacrificing human lives at the rate of a thousand 



2 4 



AV MEMORIAM. 



a week! — not because he was reckless of life, far from 
it ! — but because he saw it for certain that only so could he 
save his country ! " I have taken the responsibility ! " 
My own brain reels in the attempt to weigh the moral 
nerve which is concentrated in such a reply as that. 

At length, however, the time comes. He sends the 
characteristic message to President Lincoln (I have it from 
the same private source as above) : " Lee has packed his 
carpet-bag, but can't catch his train." At the same time, 
Sheridan tells us, he sent the order to him at Dinwiddie 
Court House, — on March thirtieth, ten days before the sur- 
render at Appomattox, — "We might as well close it now." 
Was that man, I ask, the " creature of circumstances?" as 
has been alleged of Grant, or did he create circumstances ? 
His fame rests on the reply ! 

About that time it was, too, when victory was assured, 
and a weaker man, for his own aggrandizement, would 
have pressed his advantage to the utmost, that Grant 
addressed Lee, asking him to yield, that life might be 
spared, and added : " I desire to shift from my shoulders 
the responsibility for any more bloodshed, or of the loss of 
a single life." No other military conqueror ever ap- 
proached such an act of self-renunciation ! 

One more scene remains. Lee's parting from his brave 
army was a sad one ; but no condition was to be imposed 
by the victor that brought with it one jot of added humilia- 
tion. History furnishes no parallel to the courtesy shown 
on that occasion to the vanquished. The captor would not 
even enter the captured capital. The proffered sword he 
returned to one who, while the most valiant defender of the 
wrong, was of a spirit to appreciate the generous act of the 
leader of our armies. That to-day the name of this great 
leader is held in equal honor throughout our entire land, 
that North and South are joint bearers of his pall, and 
that the badges of mourning have been affixed by the 



GENERAL GRANT. 25 

hands of the conquered enemy to the walls of the very 
house which witnessed this act of super-kingly amnesty, is 
the most priceless heritage he could have left to his weep- 
ing country, and the most glorious inspiration he could 
have given to humanity ! 

This year will be marked also by the death of another 
Christian hero, whom, if any one, the world might worthily 
match against the name of Grant ; one whom, in the House 
of Commons, on the twenty-fifth of February last, Earl 
Gladstone designated "a hero among heroes." When, 
upon his return on his errand of mercy to the Soudan, 
where his body now fills a nameless grave, among those for 
whom he gave his life, he was highly complimented upon 
his former splendid rule of that country, as an officer of the 
government, he quietly replied : " No, I am not a Napoleon, 
nor a Colbert. I do not profess to have been a great sol- 
dier or a great financier ; but I can say this, I have cut off 
the slave-dealers in their strongholds, and I have made the 
people love me." These were the spoken words of Chinese 
Gordon ; they are the unspoken words of the life of General 
Grant. " I have made the people love me ! " Write 
these words with the finger of truth as the inscription upon 
his national monument ! They are his most splendid 
trophy ! 

Young men in this assembly, who read and hear these 
things, you have inherited the liberty thus redeemed — the 
principles thus established in agony and blood. The brave 
men who fought are going down one by one into green and 
honored graves. Upon you descends the responsibility 
they have so nobly borne. Prove yourselves worthy of 
such a heritage ! Faithfully discharge the trust ! Copy 
the examples of Washington, of Lincoln, of Garfield, of 
Grant ! Emulate their fidelity to honor, to truth, to 
country, to God ! It shall bring you peace at the last ! 

Surviving soldiers of the Grand Army ! Sharers in 



26 IN MEMORIAM. 



Grant's successes, and justly entitled to share his renown ! 
Your eyes dim with tears as we recall these scenes, and you 
think of the still, silent form which awaits its sepulture. 
During all these years of peace, nothing has distinguished 
you except these cherished memories of the past, and the 
proud consciousness that, as soldiers, under such a com- 
mander, you served and saved your country. Follow his 
grand leadership into the yet nobler triumphs which adorn 
his private life, remembering the thrilling words which 
close your dead general's last order, issued June 2, 1865 : 
"To achieve these glorious results and to secure to your- 
selves, your fellow-countrymen and posterity the blessings 
of free institutions, tens of thousands of your gallant com- 
rades have fallen, and sealed the priceless legacy with their 
blood. The graves of these a grateful nation bedews with 
tears, honors their memories, and will cherish and support 
their stricken families." 

" Lay his sword on his breast; 

There's no spot on its blade 
In whose cankering breath 

Its bright laurels will fade; 
'Twas the first to lead on 

At humanity's call ; 
'Twas stayed with sweet mercy, 

When glory was all. 
As calm in the council, 

As gallant in war, 
He fought for his country, 

And not its hurrah ; 
In the path of the hero 

With pity he trod ; 
Let him pass with his sword 

To the presence of God. 

" Follow now as ye list; 

The first mourner to-day 
Is the nation whose father 
Is taken away. 



GENERAL GRANT. 



Wife, children and neighbor 

May mourn at his knell, 
He was lover and friend 

To his country as well. 
For the stars on our banner 

Grown suddenly dim, 
Let us weep in our darkness, 

But weep not for him ! 
Not for him who has died 

Leaving millions in tears; 
Not for him who has died 

Full of honor as years ; 
Not for him who ascended 

Fame's ladder so high ; 
From the round at the top 

He has stepped to the sky ! 
It is blessed to go 

When so ready to die." 



[Note. — In a hastily prepared address for a passing occasion, with 
not the most distant thought that it would have a permanent form, I did 
not hesitate to adopt almost in the author's words the simile of a moun- 
tain which I have applied to General Grant; and also from a recent 
address by Rev. Dr. Meloy, of Chicago, a part of the phraseology of 
some portions near the close. I prefer to make my full acknowledg- 
ment in this general way, than to recast the language, or to introduce 
frequent quotation marks. — w. p. t.] 



28 



MEMOlilAM. 



ADDRESS BY REV. H. F. KINNERNEY. 

The quartette sang "The Battle Prayer," and then Rev. 
H. F. Kinnerney, of St. Joseph's church, addressed the 
large assembly as follows : 

God alone is great ! America is great among the nations ! 
Grant is great among men ! God is eternal ! America is 
immortal, but Grant is dead. His virtues and defects have 
already been passed upon at the judgment seat ; his name 
and fame live for us and for all posterity. Wonderful 
name ! mighty fame ! you have carved for yourselves the 
largest place given to men in the Temple of Immortality. 

For some years, fifty millions of people, bound together 
by the closest tie of union, have slept calmly under the 
shadow of his great name. Vain sleep — they are suddenly 
awakened by the terror of a dire calamity. They open 
their eyes and look up with throbbing hearts to a lowering 
cloud which bears within its folds the arrow of death for 
him who is the greatest and the first of the fifty millions, 
greater alone, as being the head, than all the fifty millions 
in the aggregate ; till at length the cloud bursts on Mount 
McGregor, killing him who was the heart and the pulse of 
the nation. How sorrowfully and mournfully the bells of 
America tolled, to tell the millions that Grant was dead ! ! 
the same bells which rang so joyously for the fall of Rich- 
mond. We read that the sun stood still, destroying time ! 
The sun on America's dial stood still on July twenty-third, 
at eight minutes past eight, and will not move until in a few 
moments the mortal remains of Grant shall have been con- 
signed to the earth. 

It is an instinct of humanity to proclaim the greatness 
of a man from the gates of the tomb. It is thus that his- 
tory for future generations must be made. France, a few 
days ago, proclaimed to the world the greatness of Victor 



GENERAL GRANT. 



2 9 



Hugo. It is now America's turn to proclaim the greatness 
of her hero, General Grant. Was he truly great ? I an- 
swer, Who could be greater in a human point of view ? He 
was magnificently great, — great in life, and great in death. 
The world has ever bestowed her choicest laurels on the 
soldier. Grant was a soldier, every inch, and a truly great 
soldier. With whom shall I compare him in all history ? I 
call from the dead an Xerxes, an Alexander the Great, a 
Scipio-Africanus, a Caesar, a Wellington, a Napoleon. 
Compare him with a Napoleon ? No ! Napoleon has left 
nothing to the world except a band of wandering exiles 
bearing his name. A soldier's greatness is told by, first, 
his victories, and second, their results. Who gained more 
victories than Grant ? I mention but a few to be inscribed 
upon his monument : Shiloh, Corinth, Fort Donelson, 
Vicksburg, The Wilderness, Richmond, Appomattox. The 
history of the last is enough to place him first in the ranks 
of all the soldiers in the world. A victory of arms, and a 
victory of magnanimity!! "Vcz victis" (woe to the con- 
quered) was gnawing the soul of his noble adversary. 
"General," said he, "I take not your sword" — "Hate 
shall not prevail among warring brothers" — "Take your 
arms ! turn them into ploughshares ; your horses you will 
need to till the ground in the spring-time." Great God! ! 
this is the first time that war has ended thus, this the 
greatest victory ever won by mortal man ! 

It was not the victory of arms which put an end to the 
rebellion. No ! a thousand times, no ! ! It was the magna- 
nimity of General Ulysses Simpson Grant. Write, then, 
upon his tomb, a word never written on the tomb of another 
warrior — Magnanimous Grant. What have been the 
results of his victories ? The union of States, that noblest 
form of government ever framed by the genius of men, 
saved ; its foundation made more firm than adamantine 
rock ! its form and shape made more beautiful than the 



*■ 



3° 



IN MEMORIAM. 



most Utopian dream could ever have imagined — more 
union, more love, more prosperity, more equal rights, more 
liberty, more progress, more godliness than ever before 
blessed this the fairest land on earth. Come forth, ye mil- 
lions of slaves made freemen, to grace the triumphal car of 
your liberator who to-day goes in victory to the tomb ! 
Lincoln was the head, but Grant was the right arm ! Lin- 
coln and Grant ! ! The names are inseparable and imper- 
ishable ; one does not darken the lustre of the other ! 

War has its misfortunes ; they always follow in its train 
as vultures follow carrion : chaos in government ; a ruined 
finance ; a set of miscreants goaded by pelf and gain. Was 
the United States cursed for a time by these plagues? 
Yes — and Grant fought them all to the death. Assassina- 
tion ! chaos ! plunder! He fought them single-handed and 
alone. Twice he saved the nation in the few years follow- 
ing the war — no painful allusions. Chaos in government 
he battled against while its shapeless form dashed against 
him on every side during the two terms of his Presidency. 
In the piping times of peace it is a comparatively easy mat- 
ter to be a good President. But, gentlemen, I do not care 
what you may think, I do not fear to proclaim over his 
bier, that he was a Providential President. The only man 
who could have been a real President at that time of dis- 
order which followed the war — for a second term — aye 
even for a third. It was he who saved the shattered frag- 
ments, and it was he alone, by the power of his great name, 
who could reconstruct them. True, parties, the jugglery 
toys of the nation, met him as a curse. Down, I say, to-day 
with parties. No Democrat, no Republican, no North, no 
South ; they are too small to be thought of at the grave of 
Grant. He met heart-traitors — but he was true. "He 
loved not wisely, but too well." 

No man ever received more applause from humanity 
from one end of the civilized world to the other than did 



GENERAL GRANT. 3 1 

General Grant. The "census mommunis" (the common 
agreement of men) of the world cannot be wrong, or else 
we have all gone mad ! He took a trip around the world 
like his fabled namesake, Ulysses of old. The sons of Adam 
blessed and praised him as he passed by ; the Caucasian, 
the Mongolian, the Ethiopian, offered him their praise and 
plaudits, and their choicest gifts. 

And now his last battle is to be fought, the battle of dis- 
solution. Mythology tells of a man at whose vitals a ser- 
pent ever preyed without destroying his victim. This 
serpent of disease, slow and insidious, attacked him months 
ago. Noble victim ! Fifty millions of men would have dis- 
lodged that enemy ; but, no ; Statutum est Jwminibus, 
scmcl mori — Thou art a man — dust, and into dust thou 
must return. What courage ! what patience ! what resig- 
nation to the Divine Will ! what simplicity ! what humilia- 
tion ! what love ! what peace ! surrounded thee, until at 
last thou didst lie down, like a babe in its mother's arms, 
and breathe forth thy noble, generous soul into the hands 
of thy Creator. Better said of thee than of mighty Caesar : 

"Thou art the ruins of the noblest man 
That ever lived the tide of time." 

At thy tomb I shall whisper the words of thine I loved 
the best : " Let us have peace." Peace be to thee, first of 
Columbia's sons! Peace be to thee, noble soldier, bold 
warrior, victorious chieftain! Peace to thy bones — no! 
they stir ! they move ! they speak ! they call for the ashes 
of her who was his other self, his heart, his soul, his love, his 
wife ; — come, loneliest of women, answer ; — the hero will 
not rest alone; — stand by his grave, soothe his brow, give 
him thy kiss, pure and gentle, and his bones will rest again 
in peace ! Wait there at the tomb, broken-hearted woman ! 
the time is short — a little while and this cruel war will be 
over, and then in peace with him you shall rest and sleep. 

"And we left him alone in his srlorv." 



3 2 



IN MEMORIAM. 



LETTER FROM REV. J. J. WOOLLEY. 

The quartette sang "Jesus, Lover of my Soul," when 
Comrade Ansel D. Nickerson, chairman of the commit- 
tee on speakers, read the following' letter from Rev. J. J. 
Woolley, of the Park Place Congregational church, Past 
Department Chaplain, who was to be the next speaker, but 
who was prevented from being present by illness : 

South Norwalk, Ct., Aug. 6, 1885. 
Mr. A. D. Nickerson : 

My Dear Comrade : — Please express to the soldiers and 
citizens assembled on the occasion of General Grant's 
funeral my regrets at not being able to be with them. It 
is because of recent sickness that I cannot be present and 
participate in the services that seem to me to be so fitting 
and appropriate. 

The nation sits to-day like a widow bereaved of her most 
heroic son. The more I ponder the life and character of 
General Grant, the more I am filled with admiration and 
esteem for him. It was when the nation was sore troubled 
with war and threatened with destruction, that he gave 
himself for it. Without ambition or influential friends to 
aid him, but with a single heart and patriotic feelings, he 
offered himself to do what he could to avert the ruin. At 
the first, his single arm seemed weak ; but patriotic feel- 
ings, a noble spirit and great ability, soon made him a suc- 
cessful leader. Forts Henry, Donelson, and Vicksburg set 
him before the nation, and prepared the way for Appomat- 
tox and the end of the war. His career is before the 
world, and the eyes of nations scan the scroll of fame to see 
his name at the top. It is a wonderful record ; but it is 
providential. The hand of God that gave us Washington 
and Lincoln, also cave us Grant. 



-* 



GENERAL GRANT. 



33 



It is idle to say he was not a great man. A lesser man 
could not have accomplished what he accomplished. I 
need not write to soldiers or to patriotic citizens of the 
greatness and heroism of General Grant. His fame is 
their sacred treasure, and his record is before the world. 
For four long and dark years, with no thought of himself, 
he lived for his country, and won by his valor and ability 
the eminence and renown that are now accorded him. 

That he was cast in an heroic mould has been shown by 
the manner in which he fought, and by his magnanimity 
when he conquered. But not alone by these was our hero 
revealed to us. Adversity tested and proved his quality. 
Troubles of no ordinary nature assailed him. But they 
did not overcome him, or dim the lustre of his fair fame. 
He bore them well. The more he suffered, the brighter 
shone his noble spirit. 

In the days of his prosperity the blandishments of the 
world failed to seduce him. He heard applause and praise 
with modesty. His meekness, gentleness and serenity 
were developed in circumstances that would have dazzled 
and weakened other men. But he remained true. Amidst 
the world's applause he remained the plain, simple, noble 
man that he was. We cannot admire him too much, or 
speak too highly in his praise. 

Above all, like a precious gem, he shone brightest in the 
plain but pure surroundings of his home. Of this we are 
all proud. No stain or breath of reproach has touched him 
here. With his wife and children around him, loving, 
admiring and ministering to him, he lived his last days on 
the earth. What a beautiful and impressive picture. How 
he adorned the life that lies at the foundation of our social 
order — the family. Whatever else men may say, this was 
a scene that, among the spectators, angels could look upon 
with approving eyes. 



34 



IN MEMORIAM. 



O, my comrades, you do well to-day in paying tribute to 
the life and character of such a man. Soldier, patriot, 
hero, farewell ; a nation mourns your departure, and rises 
up to bury your dead body ; but she will keep your name 
and deeds in everlasting remembrance, and she will teach 
her children to imitate your noble example. 

With love to all the comrades, I am, 

Yours in F., C. and L., 



J. J. Woolley. 



ADDRESS BY COMRADE NICKERSON. 

After reading the foregoing letter, Comrade Ansel D. 
Nickerson spoke as follows : 

Comrades of Tower Post : — In presuming to speak a 
few words to you on this memorial occasion, I obey the 
request of the esteemed comrade whose letter I have just 
read, rather than the dictates of my own judgment. 
There is a sorrow which is speechless — a grief which is 
tearless. The illustrious soldier whose memory we honor 
to-day, made himself worthy of our remembrance by his 
deeds rather than by his words. 

To us this is no empty ceremony. Our old commander 
is dead. 

" He sleeps his last sleep, 

He has fought his last battle, 
No sound can awake him 
To glory again." 

While to the soldiers of the Union army his death is in a 
large sense a personal bereavement, yet it is a common sor- 
row. It is bounded by neither sectional nor sectarian lines. 
The heart of the whole nation is touched with grief, and its 
banners droop in sadness. The North and the South, the 



GENERAL GRANT. 



35 



Blue and the Gray, with clasped hands, stand uncovered at 
the grave of our old commander, in grateful recognition of 
the service which, under God, he was enabled to perform in 
effecting their reconciliation. With our sorrow, therefore, is 
mingled profound gratitude that we now have a reunited 
country — a Union indeed — a nation redeemed, peaceful 
and prosperous. 

You have listened with interest to the eloquent tributes 
of respect which have been paid to the memory of the dis- 
tinguished soldier, the faithful citizen, the true patriot, the 
trustful Christian. It is not my province or purpose to 
review his life. He is gone — gone from earth forever! 
Henceforth he will live only in history and in the hearts of 
his grateful countrymen. How impressively are we re- 
minded that Death is no respecter of persons. He comes 
alike to the commanding general and to the private soldier ; 
and how forcibly, too, we are taugut at this time that 

" The path of glory leads but to the grave." 

Comrades — 

" The battle of our life is brief, — 
The alarm, the struggle, the relief, 
Then sleep we side by side." 

Our distinguished comrade has gone to his reward. Let 
us profit by the lessons of wisdom which may be learned 
from his successful and useful life. Though he will be 
known in history as the greatest military hero of modern 
times, he was pre-eminently a peacemaker. He fought to 
establish peace throughout our borders, and when that was 
accomplished he gave himself to its promotion. His mem- 
orable words, "Let its have peace," will be repeated by suc- 
ceeding generations, who shall be taught to love and honor 
his memory. He was generous and forgiving to his own 
and his country's enemies. His magnanimous treatment 



* 



2 6 IN MEMORIAM. 



of the vanquished should not be forgotten by us. " He 
was a generous adversary," writes a Confederate soldier of 
high rank. Let us, too, my comrades, cherish a spirit of 
forgiveness towards those who withstood us in battle, even 
though we cannot forget that so many of our brave brothers, 
for their loyalty to the government and love for the old flag, 
fill graves in southern soil. But, above all else, let us 
thank God that, following the lead of our old commander, 
the side upon which we and our dead comrades were 
found during the dark days of the rebellion renders unne- 
cessary the asking either of forgiveness or forgetfulness. 

Comrades, whatever may have been the rank which we 
held in the army, and whatever the service performed, it 
should be esteemed honor and distinction enough for any 
one of us to have it said of him — " This is the country 
which he helped to save." May the memory of this day 
call us to a loftier patriotism and a truer devotion to the 
land whose institutions we went forth to defend. Let us 
at this solemn hour, as we stand by the open grave of our 
old commander, pledge ourselves anew to our country, and 
make a fresh consecration to her service ; and with one 
earnest, united purpose, press forward together to the 
glorious destiny which awaits all true patriots — all who are 
loyal to their country and to their country's God. 

At the close of this address the quartette sang " Nearer, 
My God, to Thee," in which the congregation joined, and 
the exercises closed with the benediction by the Rev. Dr. 
Bullen. 

The observance of the clay ended by a salute of thirty- 
eight guns at. six o'clock in the evening, by comrades of the 
Post, under command of Comrade James N. Earle. 



